Toilet deodorizing apparatus

ABSTRACT

Toilet seat unit comprising a casing having a chamber for housing a deodorizing agent and air impelling means such as an electric fan selectively operable, for example when the seat is raised, to induce odor laden air through an inlet on the underside of the casing and through the deodorant chamber, and expelling deodorized air through an outlet in said chamber which directs the air away from the unit.

United States Patent Clayton Sept. 12, 1972 [54] TOILET DEODORIZING APPARATUS [72] Inventor: Cyril Reginald Clayton, 20 Branksom Road, St. Leonards-on-Sea,

Sussex, England [22] Filed: Nov. 2, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 86,220

[52] US. Cl ..4/213, 4/230 [51] Int. Cl. ..E03d 9/05 [58] Fieldof Search ..4/2l3,2l4,215,2l6,2l7,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,849,727 9/1958 Bollinger et al. ..4/217 2,322,515 6/1943 Hazard ..4/213 1,058,270 4/1913 Stephens ..4/233 7 3,333,285 8/1967 Null .Q ..4/217 3,386,109 6/1968 Christian et al. ..4/213 3,501,784 3/1970 Maisch ..4/217 3,579,663 5/1971 Leiter et al. ..4/230 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLlCATlONS 934,209 8/1963 Great Britain ..4/237 Primary Examiner-Frederick L. Matteson Assistant ExaminerDonald B. Massenberg Att0rneyEmory L. Groff and Emory L. Groff, .Ir.

[5 7 ABSTRACT Toilet seat unit comprising a casing having a chamber for housing a deodorizing agent and air impelling means such as an electric fan selectively operable, for example when the seat is raised, to induce odor laden air through an inlet on the underside of the casing and through the deodorant chamber, and expelling deodorized air through an outlet in said chamber which directs the air away from the unit.

5 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PATENTEDSEP 12 I972 /V1/ /Y Tof M W a 0m Q 1 TOILET DEODORIZING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to toilet deodorizing apparatus and seeks to provide an improved arrangement for collecting odor laden air from a toilet compartment and discharging deodorized air thereinto. In particular, the invention provides for installing or adapting for installing the apparatus on the toilet pan so that it may be brought into operation each time the seat thereof is raised. To this end the invention provides a toilet seat unit which embodies an appropriate deodorizing agent and which is arranged to induce odor laden air through the agent and expel the purified air therefrom into the toilet compartment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the invention, the toilet deodorizing unit comprises a seat hinged on a horizontal axis at the rear of the toilet pan, acoverlid above said seat and pivoted on the hinge axis of the seat so as to be swingable independently of said seat, said cover lid comprising a base part with a hollow boss to fit into the seat opening, an upper portion formed with a depending well, and a detachable cover plate over said well, an opening in the bottom of said well providing communication between said well and the hollow boss, an inlet gap between said seat and base part leading into the hollow boss, deodorant means and electrically powered air impelling means in said well, a discharge outlet between said upper portion and cover, and electric switch means connected to power the impelling means when the cover lid is raised.

An object of the invention is to arrange for operation of the air impeller by raising of the cover lid in relation to the toilet pan on which the unit is mounted, and to provide the cover lid as a pivotal cover for the seat proper, a further object being to provide a cover lid which contains a deodorant and an electrically powered impeller as a unitary structure separate from the toilet seat and which can be readily attached to a toilet pan on the horizontal pivot axis of the seat. A still further object is to provide a cover lid as aforementioned having combined therewith electric heater means, arranged so that said means are brought into operation when the cover lid is lowered on to the seat and are disconnected when said cover lid is raised.

In a convenient and practical embodiment of the invention the. air impelling means are electrically driven as by an electric motor within the casing, and the unit embodies a switch which is operated by raising of the seat to close the operating circuit of the electric drive.

If the unit includes a seat warming element, a switch for selectively bringing into use either the heater or the air impeller may be a gravity change-over switch which is so arranged in the casing as to operate from one position to another by raising and lowering of the unit, whereby when the seat is lowered with the casing thereon the heater is connected to the electrical supply, while raising of the casing disconnects the heater and starts the air impeller.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the unit.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The unit shown comprises a casing which includes a base part formed with a hollow boss portion 1 approximately at the center, and an upper main casing portion or cover lid 2 formed with a well 3. The space between said portions 1 and 2 constitutes a lower chamber, the space within the well 3 being an upper chamber. A communication channel constituted as an opening 4 in the wall of the well 3 in the main casing portion 2 establishes communication between the upper and lower chambers. A rear extension 5 of the main casing part 2 is constructed for pivotal mounting on a spindle 6, which serves also for the pivotal mounting of a toilet seat 7, thereby to allow of the unit being raised and lowered. It will be noted that the casing in the lowered position shown forms a cover to the seat, the boss 1 of the base fitting into the seat opening. Between a rear wall of the extension 5 and the back of the base of the casing there is provided a gap 8 constituting an inlet to allow of admission of odor laden air into the lower chamber of the unit.

In the upper chamber formed by the well 3 there are accommodated a fan unit (which includes a fan 9 driven by an electric motor 10), a switch 11 controlling the feed of an electric supply to the motor 10, and a support for a suitable odor-destroying substance (which can be, for example, activated charcoal) denoted by reference 12. It will be seen that the fan 9 is juxtaposed to the communication channel 4 between the two chambers aforesaid.

A detachable cover plate 13 (omitted in FIG. 2) overlies the upper chamber defined by the well 3, this plate being fastened to the main casing part 2 in any convenient manner-such as by screws or pressfasteners. A rear portion of this cover plate 13 seats on One embodiment of the invention 18 shown, by way of example, in the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a sectional elevation through the unit, and

two spaced apart humps 2a at the rear of the main casing part 2, so that between the humps 2a there exists a space between the main cover part 2 and the cover plate 13, this space constituting a discharge outlet 14 directing deodorized air externally away from the upper chamber. Removal of the cover plate 13 gives access to the deodorant agent 12 for removal and replacement.

The unit may or may not include an electric heating element for warming the seat 7 when the casing is in a lowered position resting on said seat, as shown. The unit shown includes such a heating element denoted by reference 15, which extends around the marginal portion on the inside of the casing base and is heat insulated from the upper casing part 2 by a backing 16 of low heat conductivity which minimizes heat loss. The backing 16 which, for example may be made of isocyanate foam, extends almost entirely around the lower chamber of the unit, but is gapped in register with the air inlet .gap 8 so as not to obstruct air admission. The mode of construction for embodying the heating element 15 may be as set forth in British Pat. specification No. 934,209.

In the case (as shown) where the unit includes the heating element 15, the switch 11 is a gravity-actuated change-over switch controlling one electric circuit including the fan motor 10, and another circuit including the heating element 15, and is arranged so that when the casing is raised about the pivot 6 the fan motor 10 is put into operation and the heating element 15 is switched off, whereas when the casing is lowered on to the seat 7 the heating element 15 is switched on and the fan motor 10 is switched off. If, on the other hand, the heating element is omitted (the heat insulating backing 16 being also omitted) the switch 11 is a gravity operated one which is arranged to control only the fan motor 10 so that said motor operates only when the unit is in the raised position.

A flexible electric cable 17 is provided for coupling the switch-controlled circuits to a remote source of electric supply.

The base of the casing is preferably arranged to have contact with the seat 7 completely around said seat.

From the foregoing it will be evident that when the unit is brought to a raised position, and the fan motor 10 thereby becomes switched on, the suction generated by the fan 9 induces vitiated air from the toilet pan through the inlet 8 into the lower chamber of the unit and from thence through the communication channel 4 into the upper chamber 3, and then through the deodorant body 12 where the vitiated air is deodorized and expelled by the fan by way of the discharge opening 14, into the toilet compartment where the pan is situated.

The selective operation of the air impeller means may include provision for operating the fan when the casing is in the lowered position covering the toilet seat 7, vitiated air from the toilet pan in this instance being drawn up between the seat 7 and the adjacent base wall of the covering casing.

I claim:

1. A toilet deodorizing unit, said unit comprising a seat hinged on a horizontal axis at the rear of a toilet pan, a cover lid above said seat and pivoted on the hinge so as to be swingable, independently of said seat, said cover lid comprising a base part with a hollow boss to fit into the seat opening, an upper portion formed with a depending well, and a detachable cover plate over said well, an opening in the bottom of said well providing communication between said well and the hollow boss, an inlet gap between said seat and base part leading into the hollow boss, deodorant means and electrically powered air impelling means in said well, a discharge'outlet between said upper portion and cover, and electric switch means connected to power the impelling means when the cover lid is raised.

2. A toilet deodorizing seat unit as claimed in claim 1 wherein the inlet gap is located adjacent the hinge and the discharge outlet at the rear of the cover lid.

3. A toilet deodorizing seat unit as claimed in claim 2 comprising upstanding supports for said cover plate on the upper portion and located rearwardly thereof to direct outlet air rearwardly.

4. A toilet deodorizing seat as claimed in claim -1, comprising an electric motor driven fan in said well and adjacent the opening, a deodorizing block in said well and a gravity actuated switch in said well to energize said motor when the cover lid is raised.

5. A toilet deodorizing seat as claimed in claim 4, comprising in combination an electric heating element extending around the base part between said part and the upper portion, heat insulating means between said element and upper portion, and gravity actuatedv change over switch in said well to energize said element when the seat and co ver lid aregown on the toilet pan. 

1. A toilet deodorizing unit, said unit comprising a seat hinged on a horizontal axis at the rear of a toilet pan, a cover lid above said seat and pivoted on the hinge so as to be swingable, independently of said seat, said cover lid comprising a base part with a hollow boss to fit into the seat opening, an upper portion formed with a depending well, and a detachable cover plate over said well, an opening in the bottom of said well providing communication between said well and the hollow boss, an inlet gap between said seat and base part leading into the hollow boss, deodorant means and electrically powered air impelling means in said well, a discharge outlet between said upper portion and cover, and electric switch means connected to power the impelling means when the cover lid is raised.
 2. A toilet deodorizing seat unit as claimed in claim 1 wherein the inlet gap is located adjacent the hinge and the discharge outlet at the rear of the cover lid.
 3. A toilet deodorizing seat unit as claimed in claim 2 comprising upstanding supports for said cover plate on the upper portion and located rearwardly thereof to direct outlet air rearwardly.
 4. A toilet deodorizing seat as claimed in claim 1, comprising an electric motor driven fan in said well and adjacent the opening, a deodorizing block in said well and a gravity actuated switch in said well to energize said motor when the cover lid is raised.
 5. A toilet deodorizing seat as claimed in claim 4, comprising in combination an electric heating element extending around the base part between said part and the upper portion, heat insulating means between said element and upper portion, and gravity actuated change over switch in said well to energize said element when the seat and cover lid are down on the toilet pan. 